Irma Coria with her 4-year-old daughter Leslie Coria and 12-year-old Evelyn Coria in front of a table in their Moss Beach, CA home where Coria keeps photographs of her husband who passed away in August from leukemia. Coria needs money to help sustain her family until she can find employment. Ran on: 12-01-2006
Irma Coria now has to raise her children, 4-year-old Leslie and 12-year-old Evelyn, alone after the unexpected death of her husband in August from leukemia. Her third daughter is not pictured.
Ran on: 12-01-2006 Ran on: 12-01-2006 Ran on: 12-01-2006

Photo: Laura Morton

Irma Coria with her 4-year-old daughter Leslie Coria and...

THE CHRONICLE SEASON OF SHARING FUND / American dream turns into nightmare

In 2002, life became even better when the couple had a third daughter.

Last year, the Corias made plans to drive down to visit their family in Mexico. Because some of the driving would be at night, Jose went to the clinic for a vision check. During the visit, he was given a routine blood test.

That night, the phone rang. The date of the call has etched itself into Irma's mind.

"It was Nov. 17, 2005," she said. "They called from the hospital and said we had to go to the emergency room."

Jose had been feeling fine, and the family assumed that the doctors had found a problem with his eyes. But at the hospital, the doctors told the Corias that Jose had leukemia.

"It was a shock," Irma said. "He would need blood every three days."

Jose quit his job and essentially moved into the hospital.

Irma, too, quit her job.

"She took care of the kids, but she spent most of the days at the hospital by his side," said Fatima Soares, a social worker from the Coastside Opportunity Center, who got to know the couple when they sought help preparing their income tax returns.

The months flew by, and Jose grew no better.

He qualified for state disability insurance, supporting his family with that income.

On Aug. 21, Jose Coria died. He was 41.

His widow was 33.

"The children, they don't really understand," said Irma.

Her eldest daughter, 13, has had a particularly hard time coping with her father's death.

Family members helped with funeral costs and brought Jose back to Mexico for burial.

Amid their grief, the Corias faced a new ordeal: State disability payments stopped the day after Jose died.

Without an income, Irma has been unable to pay her bills. Her family helped with the October rent on her mobile home, and she is on a waiting list to be rehired at the orchid company.

Soares said Irma and her children would benefit greatly if Season of Sharing could pay the family's rent for November and December.

"Every time I see her, she's so tired and stressed," Soares said. "She worries about her kids, plus she's grieving her husband."

Help from Season of Sharing, said Soares, "would give her some breathing room."